What’s a party without a gorgeous cake to go along with it? And we don’t mean one of those basic pieces you pick up from a chain bakery – we’re talking elaborate tiered cakes with intricate designs that don’t just make the perfect dessert, but also the most Instagrammable prop for your photo booth.

Little boy turning one? Or perhaps it’s your wedding coming up? Let these ten passionate bakers customise a work of art in every colour and flavour you can dream of.

Prices can range anywhere from $35 for a fairly ‘naked’ 6-inch cake to over $1000 for one that feeds 200 and is laden with various florals and designer macarons. Either way, you’re paying for exactly what you get.

Butter Studio

It’s not every day you get to enjoy time-tested recipes passed down through the generations, packed into the artisanal handmade spirit of today. Butter Studio – which has a physical shopfront in Jalan Besar and takeout stores in Takashimaya B2 Food Hall and Tampines Mall B1 – is all about fine quality bakes (think farm-fresh eggs, seasonal fruits, and local produce) infused with trendy flavours.

Their collection currently boasts the likes of the award-winning Salted Caramel Red Velvet Cake, petit Donutella cakelets (for two to three pax), and our favourite: the locally-inspired Speculoos Ondeh.

You’ll be sure to find the perfect cake for any occasion at this celebrated cakery. Need a bespoke design that’s unique for your wedding or birthday party? You can bet they’ll whip up something magical.

Monice Bakes

Specialising in highly customisable cakes for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, and corporate functions, the sky’s the limit when it comes to Monice Bakes, the online bakery that’s been getting plenty of love on social media. From the adorable trio from cartoon series We Bare Bears to edible flower baskets and two-tier waterfall cakes, get them handcrafted to your preferences at surprisingly affordable prices. The quality ingredients and flavourings used are not just restricted to cakes – you can also request for customised cookies, brownies, tarts, and cupcakes (freshly baked, of course) to go with your dessert table. The best part? Everything is less sweet to cater to healthier tastes, while still being absolutely scrumptious!

Nanatang Bakehouse and Studio

Serena, or nanatang, is a home baker that specialises in combining fresh and delicate buttercream flowers to create realistic floral garden cakes that taste as yummy as they look. Full bloomed, half bloomed, closed, or rose buds – each flower is unique on its own and takes an immense amount of concentration to design and pipe. Now the only question is: how can we eat something so beautiful? Plus, since starting as an online baker in 2013, she’s since opened a bakehouse and studio for exciting workshops and dreamy insta-worthy cakes.

Winifred Kriste Cake

Winifred Lua’s creations are the grande dame of all cakes, combining the art of pastry-making and craft into what can only be described as edible hauté couture. Operating out of a by-appointment-only boutique in Bukit Batok, Winifred Kristé Cake is not cheap, with cake consultations alone priced at $85. What you get in return is professional design advice, cake sketches, and a stunning result made from scratch; handmade sugar flower petals, meticulous hand-painted brush strokes, and all.

Zee & Elle Bakery

Redefining the art of cake-making are home bakers Zee and Elle with their philosophy of “dreaming big and getting lost doing the things they love”. Marketed as cakes for dreamers and wanderlusters, their duo’s designs are rustic, different, and sometimes quite figuratively out of this world – thanks to the extraordinary marble glaze. While their floral cakes still remain one of the more popular choices (especially for weddings), check out some of their suave dapper designs as well.

Sugarwhim

Eliza Liaw and her deft hands are the ones behind Sugarwhim, the Instagram bakery that’s particularly popular for its tall buttercream cakes and also lavish themed ones – think ingeniously decorated Star Wars, flamingo, or bourbon cakes that you’ll never find at your typical bakeshop. Want a cake decked out in nothing but gold leaf sheets? She can do that too.

My Sister Bakes

Specialising in the daintiest buttercream cakes, My Sister Bakes is no stranger to the local home bakers’ scene. Operated by Esther and Isaac, who painstakingly decorates each cake in their cosy studio, go for the two-tiered ones (available in mixed flavours like Milo and Lychee) for maximum visual effect – better still if you opt for their signature ombre and watercolour designs.

Susanne Deco Chiffon

There are relatively cute cakes, and there are cakes that are too cute to eat. Susanne may have a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering, but she’s also the brains behind the internet cake sensation Susanne Deco Chiffon, specialing in making patterned, decorated chiffon cakes based on the world’s cutest characters such as Gudetama, Pusheen, Totoro, and Hello Kitty. Really though, how can anyone bite into something so adorable?

Ugly Cake Shop

The cakes here are nothing like what its self-deprecating name suggests – though to be fair, it really depends on how good (or bad) your design tastes are. The creations at the Ugly Cake Shop have a sort of quaint homemade look, made with only top-notch ingredients like Valrhona chocolates and Madagascan vanilla beans. Plus, 20% of all their proceeds go to children in Timor-Leste, which gives you another reason to customise your next cake at this store.

Custom Bakes by Edith Patisserie

Edith Patisserie may not be run out of a home, but you can be certain that each custom work is unique meticulous – a result of the love and hard work by baker-owners Ethel and Shaun, who have previously worked in professional pastry kitchens. Besides original designs, their online store also offers recreations of previous works that the pair have concocted for other clients, including unique flavour pairings such as roasted pistachio sponge with apricot mousse, and banana sponge with peanut butter.

Gary is one of those proverbial jack of all trades... you know the rest. When not writing about lifestyle and culture, he dabbles in photography, graphic design, plays four instruments and is a professional wearer of bowties. His greatest weakness: spending more money on clothes than he probably should. Find him across the social world as @grimlay